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Winter
Makalu 1/10/01 Dispatch: The weather is
still bad

Awaiting
the change of weather, Krzysztof Wielicki, Dariusz Zaluski
and Jaroslaw Zurawski spent two days and nights in
camp no.2, near the Makalu La Pass, at the height of
6900m. Yesterday morning Wielicki informed us via
radio-phone that they were descending into the base.

The
Alpinists have not given up yet. Gia Tortladze and
Krzysztof Liszewski packed their equipment and are
ready to leave. Currently the descent from camp 2 into
the base takes 8 hours, but the climb up lasts three
days. Tortladze and Liszewski hope that a day will
come when the wind is not so strong. If it happens so,
they want to be as near the Makalu La Pass as
possible. From that point you can make an attempt and
climb up the peak. The level difference is 1000m from
the place to the summit. The Alpinists need two days
without hurricane to reach it from the pass.
Unfortunately everything seems to be against us. The
last sunset has been the most intense, it glowed red
and the mass of snow blown over Mount Everest has been
the biggest so far

Five
American MSR cookers were scattered in the extended
base (5300m). Maciej Pawlikowski fought to repair the
sixth one by himself. Suddenly it spat fire. The floor
and the mosquito net started burning before he managed
to throw the ball of fire outside. Pawlikowski saved
the tent and now stays in the main base, safe and
sound.

The
Polish ski-jumpers made the expedition really happy.
They congratulate Adam and the rest of the team from
deep inside the Himalayas.